10 Questions w/ Karl Onibuje

Karl Onibuje is a UK-based jazz bassist and producer whose body of work spans a breadth between traditional instrumentalization and modern improvisation. His new album, “Yokayu”, was recorded with pianist Yohan Kebede (of Kokoroko) and London-based drummer Yusuf Ahmed. Below, we have 10 questions intended to delve deeper into the thought process behind his music.

Listen to “Yokayu” here.

1. Describe your journey into music. How did you get started?

I started playing Trombone in primary school, I then started playing bass when I was 16 after hearing the bass player in the jazz band in CYM (Center for Young Musicians). I received a scholarship to Berklee where I studied for a year, when I arrived back in England I was fortunate enough to start touring straight away with phenomenal musicians/artist such as Soweto Kinch, Femi Temowo, Troy Miller, Courtney Pine, Jason Rebello, Christine and Queens and Laura Mvula. I then started producing my own music around 29 after downloading Ableton.

2. Who are your main influences? Are there any ways you see them manifested in your music?

There are too many influences to mention and some of them are not even artists or musicians. Some of them are regular people who I meet in day to day life, who pull me out of a constricted way of thinking. Such as when I met a homeless guy who was asking for food. I had just come out of the chippy with some ‘just cooked boiling hot’ sweet potato chips, which burnt my tongue every time I took a bite and also it was quite cold outside as my fingers felt the windy chill as soon as I left the shop. As I walked back to the venue for soundcheck, I saw a homeless man two shops down from the chippy sitting down outside an off licence shop. I offered him the chips, he took three with an extra fork and ate them in one bite and said ‘no thanks, I don’t like these ones’.

That interaction threw the whole ‘Beggers can’t be chooser’s’ aphorism out the window and realised no matter how tough things get you always have a choice.

How this manifests in my music I’m not too sure, I make an active choice to leave my comfort zone and explore the spaces that I’m not supposed to occupy and that opens new pathways, also I closed certain doors that I have been down numerous times to avoid predictability. 

3. Disregarding genre, how would you describe your music? 

I would say my music is like a collage of emotions and thoughts, which frequently gets rearranged into a personal tapestry, sometimes it’s very messy, disjointed and unclear but there’s always beauty in the dissonance. 

4. Can you describe your approach to balancing dynamic movement and sonic continuity in your instrumentals?

I don’t think there is a balance and I don’t really strive for one, my aim is to get a particular feeling or thought out. If that ends up being ‘balanced’ for the listener ‘cool’ but to me it’s pretty one sided exploration of leaning into a particular space that I want to an adventure in.

5. In what ways does improvisation play into this?

Improvisation to me is dancing in a maze and trying to escape at the same time. Sometimes you jump up and glance at where you need to go, sometimes you just keep left and sometimes you give up and just wander around. It really depends on where you’re at on that day. But I guess you always want to reach a space of freedom. Or maybe not if you’re bored of searching for it on that day.

6. Who does the art for your album covers?

I design my album covers, it's a mixture of drawing, photography, ai, photoshop and effects.

7. Tell me about your most recent album. Could you describe it for the listeners?

Funny things this album was supposed to come out last year with my other albums but I wasn’t too happy with mix so I took some extra time to mix and master it myself and there are still a few things I would change now but one has to learn to ‘let it go’, also budget as I’m doing this all myself.

Yohan, Yusuf and myself would have Jam Sessions during Covid and I would record the sessions. I would then take the parts I like the most, transcribe them and turn them into songs, by arranging the structure of the song, writing melody parts and writing new sections. We then went to 5DB studios to record the album over two days.

London Hymnal was just a 3 minute drum jam in the studio, I then went back and wrote a melody and chords. I had been listening to a bit of English hymn music and also had a session where I was improvising over Bach so that affected the way I wrote for that tune.

The last song came about after I sent Kinzli the piano track I recorded. She then sang a simple melody and sent it to me as a voice note. I didn’t think much of it at the time but it kind of ended up worming its way back into my head as every time I would hear the solo piano I thought something was missing. I ended up having to chase her down over several months to get her to record a high quality vocal of it.

8. What’s your favorite album of all-time?

Silence – I’m waiting to hear it in my head.

9. Where do you see yourself going musically? Who would you like to work with next?

I’m not sure where I’m going next but it’s still going to be audiofying a space and an emotion. And I’ll be taking inspiration from the people I meet and see.

I want to work with people who want to work with me and explore where we haven’t explored before and make music that is an unspoken conversation that everybody can enjoy.

10. Just a fun question: If you could travel back to any specific moment in history, where would you go?

I would like to experience Coltrane playing love supreme in the studio, Jimi Hendrix recording ‘axis: bold as love’ in the studio, the first showing of the Stravinsky ‘rite of spring’.

I think it would be amazing to see and hear dinosaurs and also the ‘big bang’.